Google's François Chollet: AI researchers with conscience should not work on Facebook

Facebook is under fire from a lot of critics this week as the consequences of the Cambridge Analytica scandal continue, even from an unexpected source: Google. In a series of tweets published on Thursday, Google researcher François Chollet warns that the problem with Facebook is not only the privacy gap or the recent lack of confidence, but that Facebook, powered by AI, may soon become a "panopticon". totalitarian".

"We are seeing a powerful entity that constructs detailed psychological profiles of more than two billion human beings, which runs large-scale behavioral manipulation experiments, and which aims to develop the best AI technology the world has I've never seen it, personally, it really scares me, "Chollet said in a thread on Twitter. "If you work on AI, please do not help them, do not play your game, do not participate in your research ecosystem, please show some awareness."

A good part of the field of AI research (especially the bits in which Facebook has invested) tries to develop algorithms to solve such optimization problems as efficiently as possible, close the cycle and achieve control of the phenomenon in question. In this case, us

Chollet has been a software engineer and researcher focused on deep learning at Google since August 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile, and is perhaps best known as the creator of Keras, an open source library of deep learning.

The thread of Twitter focused largely on how advances in AI, especially in the field of deep learning, could lead to a "massive population control" by Facebook. with the use of psychological tactics that are "devastatingly effective". The threat will grow, Chollet said, as advances continue in AI and deep learning.

"The human mind is a static and vulnerable system that will be increasingly attacked by increasingly intelligent artificial intelligence algorithms that simultaneously will have a complete vision of everything we do and believe in, and a complete control of the information that we consume, "he wrote. "It is important to note that the mass control of the population, particularly the political control, that arises from placing AI algorithms in charge of our information diet does not necessarily require a very advanced AI.You do not need intelligent and superconscious artificial intelligence for this be a serious threat. "

Although Chollet's scathing comments are remarkable, consider the source: Google and Facebook are known to serve content to users with artificial intelligence algorithms, and both are known to corral much of the AI ​​talent.

Chollet's comments echo Brian Acton's call for users to delete their Facebook accounts, as well as the increasing calls in recent days for CEO Mark Zuckerberg to testify before committees in the US. UU Congress and Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Last Friday, Facebook disclosed the extent of the incorrect use of Cambridge Analytica user data that is likely to benefit Trump's presidential campaign. Reports from The Guardian and other media reported that the violation resulted in targeting 50 million Facebook users before the 2016 presidential election, and that Facebook was aware of the misuse of user data years before admission.

In one of his first public statements since then, Zuckerberg apologized on Wednesday in an interview with CNN, promised to make changes, and considered the possibility of testifying before a congressional committee.

Also on Wednesday, Facebook announced changes to its Facebook platform, promising an audit of any application given access to large amounts of data in recent years, and to demand a contract signed by users in order to gain access to your publications on Facebook.